“When drought parches wells and streams, someone must carry water. When storms bring devastation and disease, someone has to nurse the sick. Climate change hits hardest on the planet’s vulnerable edges. If women hold up half the sky, what do we do when it seems the sky is falling?”

BARBARA KINGSOLVER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Problem: Climate Change

70% of those who die in any climate disaster are women. In drought, they walk for hours to find water for their families. As survival becomes impossible, rural women are usually the last to leave, often bringing along their children and the elderly.

Ripple’s aid partners train women to adapt to a changing climate by developing new skills, replanting millions of trees and creating reliable water sources.

Problem: Water Availability

Climate change and pollution have made the availability of clean water more limited than ever due to drought, rising seas, erosion and flooding. The never-ending search for water keeps women from more productive activities, and girls from going to school. Ripple’s aid partners support water programs that train and empower women to build and manage water systems, use renewable energy to move water, and scale strategies to maximize conservation.

Problem: Food Security

Women and girls represent as much as 80% of the agricultural labor force in many parts of the world, yet they are often prevented from owning land, marketing their goods and gaining access to sustainable agricultural practices.

Ripple’s aid partners promote sustainable agricultural and nutritional education, help advocate for equity in land ownership, and provide cooperative models for marketing and microfinance.

Problem: Health

Poor families, especially in rural areas, have little or no access to health care. The number one killer of women and children in the developing world is Household Air Pollution (HAP), which claims 4.3 million lives every year….more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Ripple’s aid partners train local women entrepreneurs to deliver health care information and treatment, ensuring that women are educated about how to care for the sick and prevent further illness.

Problem: Education

The single best way to help cultures value women is to show how valuable they are! And the single best way to promote value is to ensure that girls have equal access to education. An educated girl will marry and average of 4 years later, marry later and have fewer children.

Ripple’s aid partners find innovative ways to remove obstacles that keep girls from reaching educational parity with boys in their communities. Programs that offer economic opportunity to mothers and other family members are often part of the solution.

Problem: Economic Independence

Without economic independence, women are often trapped in unhealthy and abusive systems. Those who can earn an income have far more options to protect themselves and their children. Those who find a way to earn their own money not only lift their families, they also lift their communities and inspire other women entrepreneurs.